Supporters of the bill in the Senate, such as Natrona County Republican Senator Charles Scott, had argued the bill would be good for low-income people because it would get them into the workforce and give them a chance to improve their job skills. Scott said a similar national welfare bill passed in the 1990s had proven to help low-income people.

But in Senate debate last week, Sen. Chris Rothfus [D-Albany County] had argued that the people targeted by the bill were probably already looking for jobs ''or maybe even two or three jobs."